Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Water logged

I have an idea of hosting a 5-star terrain event cache. The event would be held in such a place (think famous NW Iowa lake) that special equipment would be required to get there (think watercraft). As incentive for geocachers to attend, I would offer special prizes -- Groundspeak's trackable 2008 Volunteer Geocoin for the first, say, six or eight geocachers who show up at the coordinates at the designated time, which would probably be mid-morning the Saturday before Memorial Day. There would also be a special FTF prize -- a Groundspeak Lackeys 2007 trackable geocoin. What do you think? Would anyone show up?

Julie I have two canoes and a jonboat, swim fine too. My question wasn't really about me, but island events in general. Don't get me wrong, I think its sounds like a neat get together idea :). It's just I was given the impression at one point that (the MoHo wedding not withstanding) events were generally supposed to be open to everyone, and about geocaching. This seems to be limited to only some people and mostly about getting the watercraft wet.

Just a suggestion. Set a time that they have to be on the island to be eligible to win. Then draw names for the coins. That way for people like myself that would not have a motorized craft (people power) would have a chance too.

Thanks for your feedback. To clarify some points: the lake that I'm thinking of does not have any islands. The coordinates would be offshore at a designated point in the water. I don't think this would be considered "unfair" because as an event, it's open to all geocachers -- be they man, woman, experienced or newbie. You just have to figure out how to get there and you may need to bring or borrow special equipment to do so, which is part of the hunt for any 5-star-rated geocache.

welch, I think you may be referring to a canoe event that you submitted in 2005 that was not allowed to be listed as a geocaching event. I can see how you may be questioning my event, since I didn't allow yours to be listed. Yours is a point well taken. Keep in mind that I haven't listed mine as an event yet because I'm asking for feedback from geocachers. But please let me explain how I feel my event would be different.

Looking back at your archived submission, the description suggested that it was a group going canoeing down a river and you were going to leave at a certain time from a certain place, but there was no log book involved for the event. At that time I quoted from the guidelines:

"While a music concert, a garage sale, a ham radio field day or town’s fireworks display might be of interest to a large percentage of geocachers, such events are not suitable for submission as event caches because the organizers and the primary attendees are not geocachers. In addition, an event cache should not be set up for the sole purpose of drawing together cachers for an organized hunt of another cache or caches. Such group hunts are best organized using the forums or an email distribution list."

At that time, I recommended that you post your canoe trip in the IGO and Groundspeak forums and list it at paddling.net.

In hindsight, I could have recommended that you change your event description to make it a geocaching event at the canoe launch, and include a log book for attendees to sign. However, that change didn't occur to me at the time because back then, geocaching events were generally described as longer-lasting gatherings -- usually a couple of hours or more. Since then, the phenomenon known as geocaching flash mob events has emerged, and so Groundspeak has decided that geocaching events can be as brief as 15 minutes and still qualify as an event cache.

So the event I envision is in the spirit of a flash mob event, but it would be on the water so you'd would need a boat or other means of flotation to attend. The twist of offering the coins to some attendees is merely to provide incentive, and is not the sole reason for hosting the event.

knowing you are a diver, this is a cool concept. I dig the idea of grabbing a cache under water. Sweet, and more importantly, I would be up for the challenge but would be interested in seeing it close enough to the surface that a grab might, just might, be possible without equipment. Know what I mean Vern? Perhaps a good swim off the beach, lots and lots of air and try to unhook. Maybe viewing the code and posting in log via email is good to prove. ( i think I read a story on one of those recently) Lets not bring in the old, bring in the new. by the way, about that slider cache...... :-)

Yes Ken my previously declined event is part of how I came to my thinking of events.

"In hindsight, I could have recommended that you change your event description to make it a geocaching event at the canoe launch, and include a log book for attendees to sign. However, that change didn't occur to me at the time because back then, geocaching events were generally described as longer-lasting gatherings -- usually a couple of hours or more. Since then, the phenomenon known as geocaching flash mob events has emerged, and so Groundspeak has decided that geocaching events can be as brief as 15 minutes and still qualify as an event cache."I'm glad you bring that up, because IIRC at the time I had asked about changing the event to being on an island at a certain time and place (like say the location of 'Abby's Treasure Island' cache if anyone around CR that knows the area). I remember your reply email saying something like you wouldn't be comfortable with listing that because it was unnecessarily excluding people.My next email was 3-4 scenarios mixing events and boats/canoes trying to see what would be ok, including one idea to put the event on an island and offer to shuttle people to the island from the nearest launch if they didn't have a way to get to the island themselves. You never did explain what would pass, just sent me an emailing saying like, stop looking for the fine line to push. And so ended that line of questioning.

But that is the past, getting back to current events. To me an event and a five start cache are not easy to compare because of exisiting norms for each. When someone asks about 'hard' caches or ones they otherwise can't complete, it seems normal that they're told things like "not every cache is for everyone", "only do the ones your comfortable with" and "just ignore the ones you don't like / or can't do"? On the other hand, events are more "Come as you are, Do what you want". Even if an event has a timed 'be the fastest to find all the caches deathmarch' course, generally doing the competion is not a REQUIRED part of an event. People CAN: compete, or just freestyle, or go seek exisiting nearby caches, or just plain enjoy the fellowship of the 'campfire'.Of course that is just my perception of the norms, I'm sure you know what the guidelines actually prohibit or not :D

welch, you raise an interesting point. What if I would arrange it so the event would be held in two stages? The first would be the meeting on the water (and the coin give-away). From there, the second stage would be to paddle, motor or swim -- depending on how you got there -- to a nearby boat launch and park area. At that time the non-floating geocachers could also attend the event and everyone could sign the log.

What others are saying about this blog

...it's interesting to know how people who approve caches think. Glad I came across your blog and I'll be watching for more!

Posted by justjohn, June 18, 2008:

I've just begun my foray into Geocaching here in Okinawa, Japan, and I was looking for a blog like this to help me.Your tips include things that I never would have thought of, even after reading the FAQ on geocaching.com Thanks again!

About Me

I've been geocaching since Feb. 2001, and I've been a reviewer since 2003. As a reviewer, I started out using the ID WGA2, but other reviewers have since used that ID for approving caches in Wisconsin so I started a new ID (IowaAdmin) in July 2005. My "regular" IDs are kbraband (for solo geocaching) and active2gether (for caches I find with my wife). While some reviewers believe in hiding their true identities, I don't do that. I believe that by working together with fellow geocachers to get caches approved according to the geocaching.com guidelines in a cordial and consistent manner, there should be no reason to keep my ID secret.